TechCrunch Space: A big pivot

Hello, and welcome back to TechCrunch Space! This week, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said she wouldn’t be surprised if the company launched Starship 400 times over the next four years. What do you think? How realistic are those numbers, on the scale of “almost certain” to “no chance in hell”? I believe SpaceX has the manufacturing know-how to make it happen. But I can’t help but wonder if regulators and the rest of the industry are ready — regulators, to actually process and keep up with that scale, and the industry, to actually fill all those Starships with useful mass.

But hey, with the Department of Government Efficiency online, anything is possible.

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Story of the week

Speaking of Starship, I wrote a little explainer about the vehicle’s history and development, with the target reader being that family member of yours who really doesn’t get WTF is the big deal about it. For the die-hard space fans, there probably isn’t too much in there that you didn’t already know…but keep the link bookmarked to easily send to all the Starship-skeptics in your life.

Image Credits:SpaceX (opens in a new window)

Pivot of the week

As the saying goes: “Space is hard.” That difficulty was on full display with ABL Space Systems’ announcement that it was pivoting from commercial launch to missile defense. There’s certainly a massive appetite within the DOD for this tech — the department’s fiscal year 2025 budget allocates $13.5 billion for missile defense programs — but we’ll have to wait and see to learn how exactly ABL plans to use its existing IP for this new purpose.

Image Credits:ABL Space Systems (opens in a new window)

This week in space history

This week we’re celebrating the Apollo 12 crew, which touched down on the lunar surface on November 19, 1969. Astronauts Charles Conrad Jr. and Alan Bean spent around 31 hours on the moon while the third person in the crew, Richard Gordon, remained in lunar orbit. One of the most significant achievements of the mission was the pinpoint landing: The spacecraft Intrepid touched down just 535 feet from the Surveyor 3 probe.

Apollo 12 astronauts from L to R: Charles conrad, richard gordon, and alan bean on september 22, 1969.Image Credits:NASA

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